On this day, I’m doing a wide variety of things. As my full time job is working in the Long Range Community Planning pod of Planning and Development Services at the Niagara Region, a healthy part of my day so far is catching up on some applications that needed to be entered into our iDarts – Development Application Tracking System. This is a system that manages the various types of development applications that come in (these include Subdivisions, Condominiums, Zoning By-law, etc.). I wasn’t at work this passed Friday so the applications have piled up a little.

As some may know, I’m also the founder of Geospatial Niagara (the organization behind Day of Geography) and we have so many projects on the go. One thing that is particularly new this year for me is the GeoNiagara Radio Show. This project began as a 4th Year Honours Internship in Brock Universities Department of Geography and Tourism Studies. Season 2 has just gotten underway and we will be airing Episode 3 on November 22, 2017.

The premise of the show is to engage and inform educators, students, and the broader community about the relevance and importance of geography as a discipline and geo-literacy as an educational necessity in a world that is ever increasingly being informed and influenced by geospatial technologies and information. The show is hosted my myself and co-host/producer RJ!

All of the episodes air on 103.7 CFBU, usually on the third Wednesday of the month, but after airing, the MP3’s are made available for download. If you wouldn’t think that you could make a career in media if you have a geography background, take a look around at the use of maps and visualizations in print media on television and on the internet. There are plenty of examples of stories that will include interactive maps as part of the story. After the passing of Gord Downie – lead singer and lyricist of The Tragically Hip, the CBC posted a story map of the geographic inspirations for some of the bands songs. You can be interested in media and utilize a geographic education for that career that you desire!

Some more good news! Geospatial Niagara now has employee number 1, Celeste, and today a little bit of time has been spent communicating with her with respect to some of our other projects, trying to determine budgeting of some services.

It’s never ceases to amaze me the types of jobs that I do in a day and as all of them are based one way or another in Geography, these do not feel like jobs! To me it is fun!